She has led numerous campaigns in the area.
Ms. Honkala will discuss the goals of the March 4 Our Lives, July 25,
and she will answer your questions.
Find out if flatus will be on the agenda for the DNC.

Enjoy this stimulating discussion and a fabulous Chinese dinner for only $25/person.

CREDIT CARD PAYMENT:

Green Night Out is open to the public.
Please RSVP because space is limited.
RSVP to the Green Party at
215-843-4256 and gpop@gpop.org.__________________________________________

Building the Green Party Through Ballot Access
GPOP Election Operations Working (EOW) Group
Report #14, June 10, 2016

Hello, Green Party Representative.
This report will bring you up to date on what has happened since Report #13, which you received on May 22.

Task: Recruit Green Party Candidates
There are several reason we struggled to convince activists to run for PA Representative this year. One middling reason was that each Green Party candidates must collect nominating signatures, which also count for our state-wide candidates (termed “piggybacking”). It seemed obvious to some of us that the more candidates we recruited to collect 700 signatures in each House District, the faster we could reach the 21,775 nomination signatures we need for our five state-wide candidates.
You know that we tried to recruit candidates from Philadelphia for PA Representative, but we were not successful this year. Fortunately, there are three Green Party candidates who are collecting signatures: Gabe Lytle in House District 60, Michael Bagdes-Canning in District 64, and Jay Sweeney in District117.

Task: Build an Infrastructure to Win Elections
We have asked Green Party Representative Robert Jaffe to video the proceedings at GREEN NIGHT OUT on June 11. Animal rights activist Marianne Bessey will lead our discussion of “Ecological Impact of Animal Agriculture.” We have been asked for a video (or live-stream) of this event by the animal rights committee of the Green Party of the U.S.

Task: Organize Campaign Workers
Charles, Bernadette Marie and I have returned to telephone calls to new Green Party members. So far, we have completed calls to everyone who joined us between October 2014 and September 2015. Now we are calling new Greens who joined us since October 2015.
We will are inviting them (along with you) to the next Green Party membership meeting at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, June 22, at the Jill Stein for President Campaign Office, . Please let me know if you will help, and I will round up just six or eight phone numbers for you. Calling new Greens has been inspiring because most of them are really glad to hear from us.
Our signature collection in Philadelphia got off to a terrific start, but momentum is important now that we are half way through. Our most recent Green Party Representative is Cheryl, in Holmesburg (Ward 64). We are looking for more people to join us as Green Party Representatives because this is the only way we will see Green Party candidates take their rightful place on the ballot. Please ask your friends for their help.
On May 30, I asked each of you to report whether you had signatures for me to pick up and whether you could join us during the next 10 days in collecting signatures. I got a good response, though not a hundred percent. Please let me know when I may pick up signatures from you.

It is Good to be Green,
Chris Robinson, 215-843-4256
nwgreens@yahoo.com
Membership Secretary
Green Party of Philadelphia
PS: Members of the GPOP EOW Group are called “GPOP Representatives.” According to a motion approved by the GPOP membership on September 30, 2015, the EOW Group has three tasks: “recruiting Green Party candidates who will campaign for office; organizing people to work on those campaigns; and building an infrastructure that will be able to win electoral campaigns.”
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Outreach: The group discussed different forms of recruitment, from dedicated meetings, to seeing what particular neighborhoods are looking for/meeting people where they are, to what else we can do between meetings. Bernadette Marie spoke to the importance of personal contact, especially by phone; also walking door-to-door, for which we need more brochures. Hillary mentioned the difficulty of keeping people coming after the first meeting, especially as the locations change. Additional suggestions included events that GPOP sponsors and other opportunities to engage besides meetings to help involve people. It was suggested we keep better track of what individuals like and want to do. Alex mentioned the need to create a culture of accomplishment and to better respect and support outreach. Discussion continued to ideas for taking advantage of this moment precisely now, when there are so many disaffected members of the two major parties looking for ways to be involved and have their voices heard. It was suggested need to do better at the local level at making our presence known, and not just through election campaigns. Discussion returned to concern for opportunities beyond/outside of regular meetings, especially for young people and students, and turned to the possibility of student interns who might be interested in organizing on their campuses, who might also work on social media and otherwise get the message out.

Green Nights Out: The upcoming event is on 6/11, featuring Marianne Bessey in discussion of “The Ecological Impact of Animal Agriculture.” The dinner will take place beginning at 6:30 at Su Xing House, 1508 Sansom St. A GNO featuring Cheri talking about the March for Our Lives will then follow in July. It was provisionally determined that no GNO be held in August.

Petitioning: Upcoming petitioning opportunities were discussed, including the West Philly street fair and Bala sustainability fair on 6/4; Gorgas Park Solstice Festival on 6/11; and Odunde and Gay Pride on 6/12. We are now also in a position to pay for $1 per signature to petitioners needing pay.

Anti-Drone-War Displays during the DNC: Bob Smith presented on nodrones.org, worldcan’twait.org, and the BrandywinePeace.org initiatives that will take place during the DNC: “truth displays” throughout week, featuring drone replicas, death masks, and facts concerning children killed in drone attacks and other such information. Bob emphasized that it is important to rally people around this, and to remind them about the Democrats’ role in prosecuting and prolonging wars. GPOP voted to endorse the displays; Greens and others should sign up to help on the Brandywine Peace website, and otherwise promote participation.

March for Our Lives: There is now an office for the march, at the Jill Stein Campaign HQ, 1301 West Porter Street. There are now flyers, there is a website, and a phone number, with interns who will answer. The march application to the city was turned down. Galen suggested that is vital to make publicity around this. We need to get City Council members involved; we need people to work at workshops in preparation for the march (dates TBD), and to otherwise be involved. GPOP had voted to become an institutional PhillyCam member, which will also help support the march.

Fracking: Teddy Clarke offered information and passed around a recent article on fracking, which she hoped to see distributed widely. GPUS’s existing efforts against fracking were discussed.

Ballot Access: Hillary reported on the result of the recent court hearing in Philadelphia concerning ballot access. The judge refused to hear the case, sending it back to the lower courts, which represents a victory, at least on the issue of minority parties being forced to cover court costs when they lose legal challenges against their petitions.

Announcements: Information on The New Century Movement was provided, concerning raids and other aspects of immigrant rights; the group may be coming to Philadelphia. Bernadette offered to create a phone tree connection.

Treasurer’s Report: Hillary reported the balance is $1114.00. She also noted that the GPOP account is accessible in real time online.

Next Meeting: will be at 7 p.m., Wednesday, 6/22, and will take place at the Jill Stein Campaign HQ, 1301 West Porter Street, Oregon, south Philadelphia.

GREEN NIGHT OUT welcomes Marianne Bessey who will lead a discussion of“The Ecological Impact of Animal Agriculture.”

Ms. Bessey is an attorney, long-time animal advocate and founder of the grassroots group Animal ACTivists of Philly.

She has led numerous campaigns in the area, including
the closing of the elephant exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo,
the closing of the Bucks County Zoo, and
the elimination of animal circus fundraisers for fraternal police organizations.

Enjoy this stimulating discussion and a
fabulous Chinese dinner for only $25/person.

Green Night Out is open to the public.
Please RSVP because space is limited.RSVP to the Green Party at
215-843-4256 and gpop@gpop.org.
______